Kimi Antonelli 'dodges bullet' as Oliver Bearman smash 'makes life easier'

Kimi Antonelli conceded he got "lucky" en route to making Formula 1 history.

Antonelli took the Japanese Grand Prix chequered flag by a comfortable 13.7s margin over McLaren's Oscar Piastri, but it could so easily have been a different story.

From pole position, a woeful start saw the 19-year-old drop to sixth by Turn 1. As the pit-stop phase unfolded and with Antonelli leading the race, a monster 50g smash for Haas' Oliver Bearman gave him a free stop and allowed him to hold onto his advantage.

On the second stint on the hard tyre, Antonelli was never troubled, going on to become the first teenager to lead the drivers' championship, and the first to win back-to-back grands prix.

Over the radio on the cool-down lap, Antonelli said: "I was lucky with the safety car, but it was unbelievable at the end", to which race engineer Pete Bonnington replied: "Yeah, pace was really good on the hard tyre mate, but yeah, we definitely dodged a bullet today."

Reflecting on his victory after the race, Antonelli added, "It feels pretty good. Of course, it's still early to think about the championship, but we're on a good way.

"In the race, I had a terrible start. I need to check what happened, then I was lucky with the safety car to be in the lead, and the pace after that was just incredible.

"It was a really nice second stint. I felt very good with the car, and I'm pleased with that. I don't know what the outcome would have been without the safety car, but it definitely made my life a lot easier."

After conceding he now has "a few weeks to practice some clutch drops to get a better feel with it", he said: "Definitely it's been a weak point so far this year, and I need to improve that because you can easily win or lose races with that."